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Cold Trade
“Of all the vices you Imp’ral possess, I find the one you call ‘greed’ most fascinating. That you would sell your secrets, betray your kin’blood, and even enslave your own race to us, and for what? Mere trinkets and toys---for the least of our crafts. Most amusing...” —Master Vray, Fra’al Satrap Contact with xenos races is strictly forbidden to the Imperial citizen, and the alien is abhorred and condemned from the Imperial pulpit with the same vociferous hatred as the witch, mutant, or daemon. For the Imperium, the alien exists only to be destroyed for the fundamental crime of contesting mankind’s dominance of the cosmos. After millennia of constant warfare and xenocides, most of the alien races that have survived contact with humanity have come to hate and fear the Imperium in turn or, like the Ork, have come to delight in the endless conflict. This is a somewhat simplistic picture, however. For within these broad generalizations hide numerous localized exceptions, dark dealings, and subtler realities, particularly in those regions at the very edge of the Imperium’s control---such as the Calixis Sector. There are always those who through opportunism, avarice, or simple desperation will deal with the alien either for profit or survival’s sake. There is also a market for xenos artefacts, curiosities, lore, science, and even for dangerous xenocreatures amongst the Imperium’s powerful elite. The “Cold Trade,” as it is known in the Calixis Sector, deals with items and commodities such as these, and is mired in a grey area of Imperial law. Although there are numerous objects and artefacts that are outright illegal, there are a great many that are not, in part because the breadth and scale of the galaxy makes it simply impossible to categorize and ban every item, device, or object that may or may not have been made by nonhuman hands. The waters of legality and control are further muddied by the fact that certain individuals and agencies have had their right to exploit xenos races, conduct commerce outside Imperial space, or profit from alien plunder enshrined in law since the Imperium’s founding. Foremost among these are the Rogue Traders, be they of great and ancient dynasties or the holders of lesser charters. In some cases, they have spent millennia questing beyond the borders of the Imperium. But they are not alone. The explorators of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Imperial Crusades, and innumerable lesser merchants, renegades, and frontier worlds all have had the potential for contact with the alien and are avenues by which alien plunder and alien devices can make their way onto the worlds and markets of the Imperium’s heartland. The problem of unregulated trade in xeno-artefacts is particularly prevalent in the Calixis Sector, standing as it does on the edge of Imperial space. Before the sector’s founding, many of its inhabited worlds were once were home to alien occupation---a legacy which has left many secrets buried. Local laws vary widely on just what is and is not illegal to transport, import, and own, and a number of independent commercial vessels that ply the sector dabble in the Cold Trade to some degree, usually as an adjunct to their more regular activities. The Cold Trade is further catered to by numerous merchants on wealthy worlds such as Scintilla and Malfi, serving the tastes of collectors among the nobility and mercantile elite. All of these traders claim legal provenance for their goods (the risk of doing otherwise is just too great, no matter how influential their clientele might be). In practice, it is only the extremely rich and powerful who can afford to own such items, and because of their status they are able to avoid being denounced as “xenophiles” and subjected to the suspicion and wrath of the masses indoctrinated to hate and fear the alien. Of course, it is in part the thrill of the forbidden and the excitement of risk that make such collections appealing to jaded guilders and dissolute nobles in the first place. This, however, is a dangerous game, and quite apart from the potential risk to body and soul inherent in the things they crave, even the most highborn noble walks a tightrope collecting xeno-artefacts. The closer to the forbidden their tastes err, the more they risk censure, criminal investigation, or, worse still, the attention of the Holy Ordos or even the Redemptionists’ flames should their activities draw notice. 'Sample Xeno-artefacts in the Calixis Sector' Within the Calixis Sector, reaction to xeno-artefacts will vary from location to location. An old piece of unearthed statuary that might go unremarked upon and used as a doorstop on a frontier world like Ganf Magna would be enough to have the possessor dragged to the pyre as a xenophile deviant on Maccabeus Quintus. As a result, those who trade in such items and those who wish to purchase them must be both circumspect and cautious. Quite apart from this grey market there exists a true black market in items classified as completely forbidden by Imperial law. Such illegal items often command vast sums, but the danger involved is equally high, carrying the death penalty for all involved and attracting the wrath of Imperial authorities. The following is a sampling of such xeno-artefacts that form part of the Cold Trade, ranging from the merely exotic to the outright banned. Xeno Art and Other Curiosities Works of art and antiquities---statuary, trinkets, mosaic shards, graven tablets, broken devices, strange jewelry, and the like purporting to be of nonhuman origin---are perhaps the most common (and easily faked) staple of the Cold Trade. Most are simply sold under the banner of “made by unknown hands,” which is vague enough to pique interest but non-specific enough to not require proof. Others come with convoluted stories or dubious provenances to increase their potential value. However, the “real thing”---fragments of Eldar wraithbone, Moliochin Fire Hearts, or the disturbing chthonic idols unearthed from dead worlds in the Hazeroth Abyss---can fetch enormously high prices and carry dangers of their own. Dubious Object: Cost 100+, Scarce Provenanced Curio: Cost 1,000+, Rare Unique Antiquity: Cost 5,000+, Very Rare Crimson Bestiaries Xenos bestiaries, books purporting to detail and catalogue a variety of alien creatures, are commonplace in the libraries of the wealthy. Most contain little more than lurid illustrations and superficial descriptions of the more notable enemies of mankind and whatever local fauna is deemed appropriate. They range from the opinionated and often widely inaccurate works illuminated by Ecclesiarchy scribes to rarer works more grounded in reality and culled from scholastic learning, perhaps even from first-hand accounts. Of this latter kind, the Crimson Bestiaries (so called for their distinctive serpent skin bindings) produced by the Great Library of Fenksworld are highly regarded. The volumes skirt dangerously close to the edge of knowledge that Ordo Xenos will allow in the public domain. A Crimson Bestiary requires a successful Challenging (+0) Literacy Test to successfully reference (See Table 7-4: Investigation Benchmarks on page 186 of Dark Heresy). If this test is passed, a character using the tome to learn something relating to the Calixis Sector and the surrounding stars gains a +5 bonus to his next Forbidden Lore (Xenos) Test. Cost 275, Rare Deluvial Tincture (Drug) One of a number of supposedly alien elixirs promising everything from practical immortality to superhuman virility and sold by unscrupulous traders and hereteks, the so-called delulvial tincture is more dangerous than most. It contains proscribed ingredients including xenos retroviral suspensions believed by some Magos Biologis to be distilled from Eldar blood. The source of the drug is thought to lie somewhere in the Hazeroth Abyss, and it is rapidly gaining ground among those that can afford its dubious benefits. Once imbibed, the tincture immediately produces a feeling of euphoria and impairs the user’s judgment, while improving his focus and reaction time. Users gain a bonus of +10 to their Agility and Perception, although they suffer a –5 to their Willpower and Intelligence for the duration of the drug’s effects, which last for 1d5 Hours. Once the drug wears off, the user gains a level of Fatigue until rested. The substance is dangerous in large doses---if taken more than once in a 24 hour period, he must pass a Challenging (+0) Toughness Test or suffer 1d10 permanent Agility and 1d5 permanent Intelligence Damage. Dose: Cost 300, Rare Nightweave Silk This silk is an opulent fabric woven from a crystalline material that shimmers with a spectrum of soft inner light when worn in twilight or darkness, producing almost hypnotic fascination in onlookers. Nightweave silk is valued for its effect, great beauty, and rarity by the high lords and ladies of the sector, and is sold only by traders who operate on the Halo Stars’ margins (who remain tight-lipped about its origins). Despite its favor in numerous courts, it is considered ill-omened by many void born, and some psykers claim to detect the faintest echo of suffering and something inhuman in the silk, likewise shunning it. Gown: Cost 1,000+, Rare Merchant’s Bolt: Cost 5,000, Very Rare The Zamarkand Rose Named after the legendary Rogue Trader bloodline of Zamarkand who brought this poisonous gift back to the Calixis Sector centuries ago, the rose is a fast growing tree that forms huge and intricate skeletal shapes as it matures. An exquisitely beautiful yet sinister thing, the Zamarkand rose blooms a deep crimson and midnight hue, and produces a gorgeous melancholic scent. Its biology is as much animal as vegetable, and it grows strongest when its roots are fed with blood and decay. Indeed, the merest scratch of its poisonous thorns is enough to kill an adult human. The rose is a forbidden xeno-species by direct order of the Lord Sector’s decree and has been so for 300 years, and with good reason; the crushed petals of the rose form a powerful hallucinogen capable of wreaking dreadful genetic damage to its imbiber. The Zamarkand rose remains a forbidden thing of dark legend to the Calixis elite, and upon occasion a particularly sadistic weapon of courtly intrigue. Zamarkand rose petals are highly addictive, plunging those that drink them into a soporific fever dream of extraordinary and twisted visions that will last for hours. Each time the substance is taken, the victim gains 1d5 Insanity Points and 1d5 permanent Toughness Damage. Resisting the addiction is a Hard (–20) Willpower Test that must be passed once every 12 hours for 1d5 days in order to break the addiction fully. Should the addict be reduced to “0” Toughness, instead of dying there is a 50% chance he will be horrifically changed. If this occurs, he regains his Toughness score, is rendered irrevocably and homicidally insane, and gains the From Beyond trait. His eyes become bloody orbs, and his blood vessels pulse visibly through his now almost transparent skin, granting him the Fear (1) Disturbing trait. Zamarkand Rose: Cost 15,000+, Very Rare Distilled Petals (dose): Cost 500, Very Rare 'Xeno Weapons, Armor and Gear' “Come closer, my friend. This weapon burns hotter than any of your Imperial laspistols, yes, and is much more durable as well. It is yours for only a small fee...” –Kinser, merchant of the Cold Trade Of all the artefacts of alien origin, few are more sought after than xeno-weaponry, and in nearly all cases their possession is highly illegal. Some such weapons are highly desired for their unique destructive qualities, but often people want them simply for the pleasure of the forbidden. Some more radical of the Ordo Xenos agents also favor such strange and lethal devices to aid their work (turning the weapons of the alien against them), while on the dark frontier of the sector’s edge some desperate or corrupt humans will happily trade with xenos renegades for their potent weaponry regardless of its often heavy and macabre price. Eldar Shuriken Weapons Members of the ancient Eldar race have little to do with the Calixis Sector as they are believed to consider it accursed, and save for the occasional privations of corsairs and a handful of wandering outcasts, they and their potent technology remain little more than a myth for most. Eldar artefacts as a consequence are rare and hugely valuable when traded on the sector’s black market. Eldar weapons are particularly prized, fetching huge sums from private collectors. Shuriken weaponry is one such type---these guns are graceful dealers of death that use sophisticated gravity accelerators to hurl volleys of miniature razor disks to literally slice their victims apart in seconds. Shuriken weapons use solid core ammunition which Imperial technology cannot replicate. As a result their ammunition is classed as Very Rare with a base price of 500 Thrones per clip. Shuriken Pistol: Pistol, 20m, S/3/5, 1d10+2, R, PEN 4, Clip 40, RLD 2Full, Reliable, WT 1.2kg Shuriken Catapult: Basic, 60m, S/3/10, 1d10+4, R, PEN 6, Clip 100, RLD 2Full, Reliable, WT 2.5kg Hrud Fusil Little is known of the reclusive and dangerous race known as the Hrud other than that they dwell only in darkness and possess strange, warp-based technology which, it is said, allows them to walk between worlds and even corrupt the flow of time with their baleful presence. The fusil is one of a scant few Hrud artefacts that occasionally come up for sale and is always in high demand. It is a form of “plasma musket” that uses an unfathomable mechanism to phase a plasma bolt between realspace and the warp, bypassing its target’s defenses. Though somewhat unpredictable, the weapon’s unique qualities make it useful for assassins and Inquisitorial agents alike. Fusils traded on the black market have been crudely modified to accept Imperial plasma cells. However, if a fusil’s mechanism becomes badly damaged it cannot be repaired by human hands. Basic, 100m, S/–/–, 2d10, E, PEN 5, Clip 3, RLD 3Full, Inaccurate, Overheats, Warp Weapon, WT 4kg Fra’al Glass Knife The glass knife is a vicious hand weapon of xenos origin that has long been a staple of black market trade on the Halo Stars frontier. Glass knifes are jagged, dagger-like blades, seemingly crafted from a single piece of smoky crystal. Renowned for their strength, they are sharp enough to split ceremite. Glass knives maintain their sharpness by continually fracturing tiny shards from their cutting edges, and these splinters are infamous for working their way into wounds, causing agonizing injuries. Smugglers’ lore among those that operate on the border of the Halo Stars attribute the blades to the legendary Fra’al, although many insist this is merely speculation. Accurate knowledge of the nomadic Fra’al is strictly prohibited by the Ordo Xenos, and aside from a few scattered stories, mankind remains blissfully ignorant of this merciless, highly psychic race. Melee, 1d5+2(+SB), R, PEN 4, Toxic (1d10), WT 1.5kg Morgauth Burn Caster This compact, brutish looking, multi-barreled gun is popular with human renegades and pirates operating out past the Fydae Great Cloud. The caster is valued for boarding actions and for use against dangerous xenoforms such as Orks and void lurkers for its sheer stopping power. It uses a hybrid of debased Imperial and alien technology attributed to a minor Xenos race known as the Morgauth. The scavenging reptilid Morgauth are not a species known for their subtlety and this weapon is no exception, nor is the effect its rapid firing selfpropelled thermic shells have on the target. The burn caster’s ammunition has Scarce availability where the weapon is found with a base price of 10 Thrones per round. Basic, 20m, S/3/–, 1d10+4, E, PEN 9, Clip 12, RLD 3Full, Unstable, WT 4kg, Cost 2,750, Scarce† †On the worlds of the Calixis sector’s Trailing border, Very Rare elsewhere Xenarch Death-Arc Of the Xenarch of the Northern Rim, little is known, the Imperium having made little attempt to contact them. What technology of theirs has been examined by the Imperium centers around electrical weaponry that utilizes capacitors and cells far beyond the technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Xenarch death-arc is a potent, rifle-sized weapon that unleashes a series of arcing bolts of lightning towards its victim. If any of these bolts---deadly in their own right---strike their target, the death-arc channels a far-more powerful arc of electricity along their path, blasting the target into pieces. Any additional shots that strike the same target are combined into a single damage roll, therefore only taking into consideration the effects of Toughness and armor once, rather than once per shot. Basic, 100m, S/3/6, 1d10+3, E, PEN 0, Clip 100, RLD Full, Inaccurate, Shocking, WT 10kg, Cost 2,750, Very Rare Aether Lance To those enamored with xenos craftsmanship, the Aether Lance is a hauntingly beautiful---and highly sought-after---work of art. The two meter-long haft seems to have been grown---not crafted---from exotic blue-gray alloys, and a smoky, flickering mist-blade perpetually dances from the tip. Despite its obviously alien origins, the weapon is at once both mysterious and alluring to all but the most Puritan of individuals. However, others desire it not for its beauty, but for its strange ability to pass through any material like smoke, and kill without leaving a wound. A few scholars of xenos lore attribute this weapon to the Eldar, but others claim that the Eldar consider this device and its ilk anathema, its existence not to be tolerated. Under interrogation, some agents of the Cold Trade have confessed to purchasing these weapons from a race of void-nomads known as the Stryxis. However, official Ordo Xenos records claim there is no such race within the Calixis Sector. The blade of the Aether Lance is completely insubstantial, and will pass through almost any material---including flesh---without leaving a mark. This makes it very difficult to parry the attack of an Aether Lance, and those who attempt to do so suffer a –10 penalty. The weapon also ignores Armor, Toughness, and psychic defenses, and the user cannot add his Strength Bonus to the weapon’s damage. Aether Lances seem to wound an individual’s very essence. However, the blade does not damage non-living items, machines, or any creature with the Daemonic Trait or the Machine Trait (5+). In addition, if the Aether Lance’s blade comes in contact with hexagrammic wards, an untouchable, or a similar psychic blank (such as other wards including a starship’s Gellar field), the blade flickers and dies. The weapon remains inactive for 1d10 days. Melee, 2d5, E, PEN 0, Unwieldy, WT 3.5kg, Cost 50,000, Very Rare Draethri Pain Gauntlet The pain gauntlet is a device popular amongst the dark alien race known as the Draethri, for the amount of agony it inflicts is far out of proportion to the lethality of the weapon. Often taking the form of a whip or spiked glove, the pain gauntlet can also be found in much more curious forms, such as small glass boxes into which the victim’s hand is placed, or needle-like probes inserted into the spine or skull of a victim. Regardless of the form, all pain gauntlets work in the same way. Upon contact with a victim, the pain gauntlet connects to his nervous system, taking control of it and turning it against the victim’s own body, overloading it with varying amounts of pain. At its crudest, the gauntlet can be used as a simple yet effective weapon, quickly immobilizing opponents in melee. Such a crude use is sniffed at by the Draethri, however, who prefer to use the device to torture captured prisoners. Such a use has made it popular amongst those Radical Inquisitors for whom expediency in information acquisition takes precedence over the condition of the prisoner after the interrogation. The pain gauntlet can be used as a weapon with the profile provided, or it can be used as part of an interrogation. Using the pain gauntlet as part of an interrogation requires a Hard (–20) Forbidden Lore (Xenos) Test. For every Degree of Success, the subject suffers a point of Damage each Round. This Damage is not reduced for Armor or Toughness. For every point of Damage inflicted in a single Round, any Interrogation Tests against the victim gain a +10 bonus. Melee, 1d10+2, R, PEN 0, Shocking, WT 3kg, Cost 1,500, Very Rare Scythian Fury Talon A cruel-looking blade, the Fury Talon resembles the sharp claw of some beast fashioned into a dagger. In combat, the blade is coated with a thin sheen of acid or venom drawn from a tank built into the hilt. The Scythians use the Fury Talon as part of their sacrificial rituals, cutting deeply into a target while the venoms laced into the blade ensure that the victim remains in a state of heightened bliss... or excruciating pain. The talon can store up to five doses of any poison or drug. In addition to normal Damage inflicted by the blade, a victim wounded will also be affected by a dose of the stored poison or drug as though it had been injected into his body. Melee, 1d5+3, R, PEN 3, Toxic, WT 1kg, Cost 1,000, Very Rare Mecronid Armour Discovered in the ruins of Mosul, this unique set of armor has sparked much debate amongst the Ordo Xenos as to whether this device is truly an alien in its own right, a parasite of sort, or simply a device employed by its alien creators. Resembling naught so much as a pool of liquid metal, the device responds to external stimulation, although is resistant to auspex scans. When the metal comes into contact with human skin, it begins to coalesce, slithering over the skin to form a protective sheath much like armor. The metal is cool to the touch and responds to attacks by becoming momentarily super-dense, deflecting impacts or energy blasts across its surface. Using Mecronid armor does have its downsides, however. So long as the wearer remains conscious, the armor remains protective. As soon as the wearer loses consciousness, however, the parasitical armor attempts to slither inside the wearer, either consuming or taking control of him from within long enough to find a new host. Either way, it is often fatal for the wearer. If the wearer of the armor loses consciousness, he must make an immediate Willpower Test. Failure indicates that the armor is trying to crawl within him, suffocating him at a rate of 1d10 Damage per round, ignoring armor or Toughness Bonus. Death indicates that the armor has taken control of the victim, crudely manipulating his body into doing its bidding---normally, hunting down another unwitting target. All, AP 7, WT 2kg, Cost 15,000, Very Rare Q’Orl Mind Grub The Q’Orl are a particularly insidious insectoid race that infest several worlds on the rim of the Calixis Sector and beyond. Their true motivations are unknown, but they have been known to raid Imperial settlements for captives. It is speculated that the Q’Orl use captured psykers to pilot their vessels through the Warp, making up for their race’s own lack of psychically-active individuals. Whatever the reason, this Xenos race has a rather unpleasant way of controlling their captives---the Q’Orl Mind Grub. The Mind Grub resembles a fat larvae about the size of a little finger, but with a pulsating mass of writhing probes and antennae in place of a head. The grub wriggles into the head of its unwitting victim, burrowing into the base of the cranium from where it inserts its probes upwards into the brain. The grub makes a psyker easy to control, opening them up to suggestion, whether by pheromones or by vocal commands. Some Inquisitors attempt to make use of Mind Grubs to control otherwise dangerous psykers, either ensuring their loyalty through the threat of infestation, or actually dominating the psyker by allowing the Mind Grub to crawl inside the psyker’s brain. A Mind Grub is difficult to control, however, although crude replicated pheromones gifts a limited amount of control over the parasite and its host. Instead, the controller takes advantage of the heightened susceptibility and docility exhibited by an infested psyker, giving them instructions that they are powerless to resist. Sometimes deliberate infestation backfires on an Inquisitor, especially when the Inquisitor and his psychic ‘pet’ come into unwitting contact with the Q’Orl themselves. In such a case the Mind Grub and its host fall under the sway of the Q’Orl colony, often resulting in the infestation of the Inquisitor. A psyker infested with a Mind Grub has his Willpower halved for the purposes of resisting psychic powers or other commands. At the behest of the Mind Grub’s controller, the psyker can be placed under the effects of the Dominate psychic power for 1D10 rounds, attempting to resist as normal (in this case, the controller of the Mind Grub uses his Willpower to contest against the victim). Failure indicates that they are dominated, and are therefore entirely under the Mind Grub’s control. Infestation by a Mind Grub incurs 1D10 insanity points per day that the Mind Grub remains implanted within the victim’s brain. WT 1kg, Cost Special, Availability Special Synapse Disruptor The Terlain Cluster, found trailing from the Hazeroth Abyss, has long been a hub of the Cold Trade. It is home to many unscrupulous weapon smugglers and Rogue Traders visiting who seek out exotic items to fill the vaults and armories of jaded Calixian nobles. While of limited battlefield use, Synapse Disruptors are carried by the reptilian-looking Vault-Keepers of the cluster. The weapon has found popularity with flesh merchants, pit-fighters, and those who simply delight in the unusual for their methods of inflicting pain and discomfort. Insidiously, the weapon is often manufactured to look like a standard Imperium lasgun and only by taking it apart or seeing it in operation can one discern its true nature. For that reason, Ordo Malleus agents make use of the weapon when seeking to capture or disrupt cult activities without overt force. Synapse Disruptors fire a near-invisible beam at their target, the initial effect of which is a dull-ache beginning in the extremities. If the beam is maintained for more than three rounds (requiring a successful Ballistic Skill Test each round to keep it “locked” on the victim if the target moves more than 5m. If the beam is maintained then the target must make a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test. The first failure causes a delusional state, requiring the target to roll on the Hallucinogen Effects Table. If the Synapse Disruptor is kept trained on the target for a further three rounds (and they fail a second Challenging (+0) Willpower Test), then the effects escalate and the target suffers a –20 penalty to any Test requiring concentration for 1d5 minutes after exposure. Synapse Disruptors often appear as normal lasguns but require special power cells that cost 200 thrones each, but can be recharged in the same manner as a normal power cell. Basic, 40m, S/–/–, Special, PEN 0, Clip 10, RLD 2Full, WT 5kg, Cost 3500, Very Rare 'Background Package' Career: Adept, Assassin, Cleric, Scum, Tech-Priest Cost: 200 XP Requirements: Void Born Homeworld Criminal merchants have lives that are filled with danger and threat. Despite the many Enforcers they have bribed—or thugs they have standing guard, the Emperor’s Law is always vigilant. To work for the Cold Trade is much worse, as to deal in xenos artefacts can easily draw attention from members of the Calixian Ordo Xenos. It also requires knowledge of a variety of areas forbidden by the Imperium of Mankind. A dealer in illegal weapons might only need to be familiar with the workings of bolt shells or plasma venting. A Cold Trader, however, is dealing in alien weapons and needs intimate details on strange toxins, bizarre ammunition, and even xenos physiology. Some clever traders specialise in forging their own xenos artefacts, for there are very few who could tell the difference. Cold Traders sometimes enter the lifestyle by accident, often unknowingly acquiring a xenos device and deciding to look for more once they count the enormous profits made on the deal. Other merchants might be pressured into it from powerful nobles demanding they find such products or else face their official wrath. A very few deal in such hazardous materials to better spread them across their sector, perhaps unknowingly doing the bidding of long-dead alien race. It is very rare indeed that contact with such works, even something as seemingly innocuous as a swath of glistening fabric or a lumpen idol, will result in the betterment of mankind. Behind every xenos device lies a possible threat to the Imperium. Notably, Inquisitor Artanyan has begun an aggressive sweep of cold trade vessels near the Koronus Expanse. Combining efforts with a dedicated Kill-team and the conscription of the Rogue Trader vessel Purity of Wrath, thousands of crewmen from cold trade vessels have been detained. The sheer volume of xenos artefacts confiscated and destroyed is staggering, suggesting a concentrated effort by Stryxis agents to move all manner of alien technology into the Calixis Sector. Ever the pragmatist, Inquisitor Artanyan has chosen to make use of some of the more "redeemable" ship hands, and has begun to provide a small number of these poor souls to other Calixian Inquisitors who believe their cells may come into contact with xenos technological perversions. Effects: Apply all of the following to your character: Skills: The character treats Forbidden Lore (Xenos) and Tech-Use as Basic skills. Talents: The character gains one the following: *Exotic Weapon Training (Needle Rifle) and a Needle Rifle with 2 additional reloads. *Exotic Weapon Training (Web Pistol) and a Web Pistol with 2 additional Reloads. *Speak Language (Pick One Xenos) and a suit of Xeno Mesh armor.